Three-day training program targets border crime

by Santiago Caicedo

Twenty officers from the Tamaulipas State Police and the Tamaulipas Attorney General's Office began a three-day training program on Tuesday with the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Tamaulipas State Police and the Tamaulipas Attorney General's Office began a three-day training program Tuesday with the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

U.S. federal and state agencies aim to provide Mexican officials with techniques to better fight violence from organized crime.

"For years, there has been a disconnect or miscommunication (sic) between the state of Tamaulipas, especially, and Texas in years past,” said Nelson Balido from the non-profit Border Commerce and Security Council.

Balido believes training sessions like these have created unprecedented improvements in security and the way criminals are processed in the courts. Balido said efforts, such as a reinforced Tamaulipas state police, has improved security in the state.

Mexican Attorney General for the state of Tamaulipas Federico González Scott believes reforms in the judicial system has allowed for justice to be more sensitive to crimes committed and the victims they effect.

Previously, judges in Mexican criminal courts would just look at a case through documents. As of June of last year, a new national penal code allows for a hearing before a judge.

"I believe that there is now more efficiency in terms of prosecution and, obviously, the imprisonment of people that need to be in jail,” González said.

Experts and authorities believe these factors are allowing for a safer and fairer Mexico.

"It gives certainty to investors, it gives certainty to everyone that wants to cross over just to go to a pharmacy," said Balido. "That's the kind of cooperation that we need today, that in years past ,we didn’t see that."